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Launching Posterous Groups: Smart email lists made easy

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Re: Launching Posterous Groups: Smart email lists made easy

#11

Post by ryanwaggoner »

radicaldreamer wrote: post #9
ryanwaggoner wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By default, you get emails in FB groups for each message and comment, just like Posterous, and you can respond via email to post new messages (each group has its own email address) or comments. You could interact with multiple groups without ever logging into FB (I know because I do :). I'm not sure about the media thing, though it's not really practical for video to attach the media...surely posterous doesn't do tha…

It's the little things that make all the difference imo. For example, while Facebook Groups does allow commenting by email, if you attach a picture to a reply, it doesn't appear in the group. Secondly, I don't see many small businesses or even teams within large companies using Facebook Groups to collaborate.

I don't see many small businesses or even teams within large companies using Facebook Groups to collaborate.

Not sure if that's relevant, since I don't see any way that they start using Posterous for that.

Whatever, I'm just throwing out my opinion that this doesn't seem like a big deal in Dec 2010. Maybe the ability to attach inline pictures will make all the difference, though.

Re: Launching Posterous Groups: Smart email lists made easy

#12

Post by rantfoil »

emmett wrote: post #5

Bug: I already had a posterous account, and whenever I try to create a new group it just sends me in circles and breaks. :-(

We're tracking this bug down now -- mind letting me know repro steps? We'll fix it asap -- garry@posterous.com

Thanks Emmett!

Re: Launching Posterous Groups: Smart email lists made easy

#15

Post by brandnewlow »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #4

This would have been more interesting and innovative a couple years ago, but now that everyone and their mother (and grandmother, and grandfather) are on Facebook, I think Facebook Groups is a fine solution that offers all the features listed here. I had this exact problem twice in the last month, and both times, I found that everyone in the two real-world groups I was trying to bring online was already on Facebook.…

It's frustrating on a lot of fronts, man. Over on Windy Citizen, we're asking local political bloggers to help moderate our Politics channel as we need some extra hands.

We got a volunteer who said she'd help moderate, but then all she wanted to do was post links on Facebook that pointed to WC stories. I explained to her that we were looking for her to help edit stories, post cool stuff, and participate in discussions and she kept asking if we could just move it all over to our Facebook page. I tried a few times to explain why that was counterproductive but she kept giving me blank looks. I asked her what web sites she visits, and she said, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple. That's it. Turns out, she doesn't even visit political blogs, she just visits their Facebook pages and talks about their content there. Unreal.

She's still posting her Facebook links, but the idea of her hanging out anywhere outside her "big 3" is just anathema to her. She's got X bandwidth for web sites, and it's all being consumed.

Re: Launching Posterous Groups: Smart email lists made easy

#16

Post by davi »

brandnewlow wrote: post #15
ryanwaggoner wrote: post #4

This would have been more interesting and innovative a couple years ago, but now that everyone and their mother (and grandmother, and grandfather) are on Facebook, I think Facebook Groups is a fine solution that offers all the features listed here. I had this exact problem twice in the last month, and both times, I found that everyone in the two real-world groups I was trying to bring online was already on Facebook.…

It's frustrating on a lot of fronts, man. Over on Windy Citizen, we're asking local political bloggers to help moderate our Politics channel as we need some extra hands. We got a volunteer who said she'd help moderate, but then all she wanted to do was post links on Facebook that pointed to WC stories. I explained to her that we were looking for her to help edit stories, post cool stuff, and participate in discussion…

What does she do on the Apple website? I've never thought of that as a 'destination' site on the web, but maybe I'm missing something. Movie trailers?

Re: Launching Posterous Groups: Smart email lists made easy

#17

Post by a4agarwal »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #4

This would have been more interesting and innovative a couple years ago, but now that everyone and their mother (and grandmother, and grandfather) are on Facebook, I think Facebook Groups is a fine solution that offers all the features listed here. I had this exact problem twice in the last month, and both times, I found that everyone in the two real-world groups I was trying to bring online was already on Facebook.…

We found that Facebook Groups felt more like a group wall than a product for sharing and collaboration. You can't send attachments via email, and you can't reply with anything besides plain text.

Posterous Groups makes email the core of the product. You can do everything via email including creating a group and replying with rich media attachments. There aren't any restrictions on what you can post.

Facebook Groups doesn't work well as a mobile experience. It's important for me to be able to post and consume content from my iphone. This works well in email and using the Posterous iPhone app.

While Facebook does have a large user base, there will always be people who aren't on the service or don't sign in to it regularly. We're firm believers that email is the best way to reach people.

We've made it seamless to get non Posterous users to understand how a group works and how they should participate. Give it a shot and please send feedback our way.

Thanks!

Re: Launching Posterous Groups: Smart email lists made easy

#18

Post by brandnewlow »

davi wrote: post #16
brandnewlow wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's frustrating on a lot of fronts, man. Over on Windy Citizen, we're asking local political bloggers to help moderate our Politics channel as we need some extra hands. We got a volunteer who said she'd help moderate, but then all she wanted to do was post links on Facebook that pointed to WC stories. I explained to her that we were looking for her to help edit stories, post cool stuff, and participate in discussion…

What does she do on the Apple website? I've never thought of that as a 'destination' site on the web, but maybe I'm missing something. Movie trailers?

Trailers, browsing around for gadgets, buying stuff on iTunes etc.

Re: Launching Posterous Groups: Smart email lists made easy

#19

Post by brandnewlow »

a4agarwal wrote: post #17
ryanwaggoner wrote: post #4

This would have been more interesting and innovative a couple years ago, but now that everyone and their mother (and grandmother, and grandfather) are on Facebook, I think Facebook Groups is a fine solution that offers all the features listed here. I had this exact problem twice in the last month, and both times, I found that everyone in the two real-world groups I was trying to bring online was already on Facebook.…

We found that Facebook Groups felt more like a group wall than a product for sharing and collaboration. You can't send attachments via email, and you can't reply with anything besides plain text. Posterous Groups makes email the core of the product. You can do everything via email including creating a group and replying with rich media attachments. There aren't any restrictions on what you can post. Facebook Groups d…

There ya go. Don't let the Facebook addicts win.

Re: Launching Posterous Groups: Smart email lists made easy

#20

Post by stevejohnson »

davi wrote: post #16
brandnewlow wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's frustrating on a lot of fronts, man. Over on Windy Citizen, we're asking local political bloggers to help moderate our Politics channel as we need some extra hands. We got a volunteer who said she'd help moderate, but then all she wanted to do was post links on Facebook that pointed to WC stories. I explained to her that we were looking for her to help edit stories, post cool stuff, and participate in discussion…

What does she do on the Apple website? I've never thought of that as a 'destination' site on the web, but maybe I'm missing something. Movie trailers?

Probably meant iTunes.
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